Senate President says Christie prayed for Hurricane Sandy to strike. FDU poll indicates New Jersey voters don’t think much of Sweeney.
Photo credit: nomblog.com
Senate President Steve Sweeney said at a press conference today that Governor Chris Christie “prayed a lot and got lucky” that Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey, thereby enabling the governor to gloss over the problems that were facing the state prior to the storm, according to a report on NJ.com.
“His jobs package is a hurricane,” said Sweeny,”I guess he prayed a lot and got lucky that a storm came.”
Sweeney, along with Senators Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) and Nina Gill (D-Essex) were speaking to the press prior to the Christie’s State of the State address which will be delivered tomorrow. Sweeney immediately apologised for the “prayed a lot and got lucky” line, but went on to say that he expected the Governor to “try to convince everyone the sun is shining when it’s raining,” when he addresses the legislature tomorrow.
Evidently, most of New Jersey voters think the sun is shining and Sweeney is all wet.
In an FDU Public Mind Poll released today, 61% of New Jersey voters, including 55% of Democrats and 56% of Independents think the state is heading in the right direction. 26% think the state is on the wrong track and 13% are unsure.
Of the 700 voters surveyed, 73% approve of the job that Christie is doing.
FDU polled hypothetical match ups for the coming gubernatorial race between Christie, former Acting Governor Dick Codey, Senator Barbara Buono and Sweeney.
Codey, the best known of the Democrats scored best, losing to Christie 59%-26%. 55% of those surveyed were familiar with Codey, who served out Jim McGreevey’s term as governor from November 2004 until Jon Corzine took office in January of 2006. Of those who know of Codey, 56% think favorably about him while 18% have an unfavorable impression.
44% have heard of Sweeney, but of those only 25% like him. 39% of those who have heard of Sweeney think unfavorably about him.
The poll is so bad for Sweeney that Barbara Buono beat him. Only 28% of the voters polled are familiar with Buono, yet she scored better against Christie than Sweeney did. Christie beat Buono 64%-21% with 15% undecided. Sweeney coundn’t break 20%, losing to the Governor by an embarrassing 65%-19% with 16% unsure.
Good coffee, good food, reasonable prices and a clean comfortable friendly environment with free spontaneous comedic bantering returns to the Bayshore tomorrow when the Sand Witch Shop reopens in Highlands.
Skip and Donna Ross were wacked by Sandy. Their home and business were both underwater during the storm. They’ve been fighting back since. Tomorrow their busniness on the corner of Waterwitch Ave and Shore Drive in Highlands will reopen to feed breakfast and lunch to residents, contractors and ferry commuters.
Coffee is free to eat in diners. Delivery is free, south to Rumson, Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach and west as far as Belford. The menu is updated daily.
The Sand Witch Shop is open from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Satuday and from 8 a.m. till 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Congressman Chris Smith told MMM that at a meeting held with Speaker John Boehner this afternoon the Speaker promised that action will be taken in January by the House of Representatives on the $60 billion Sandy Relief package that Boehner stopped the House from voting on last night causing a uproar within the Republican Party.
Smith said that Boehner promised that $9.7 billion to restore FEMA reserves will be up for a vote on this Friday, January 4th and that the rest of the $60 billion package will be on the House’s schedule, in two parts, $16.3 billion and $33 billion, on January 15th.
Smith spoke on the House floor late on Tuesday night to implore Boehner to schedule the vote.
House Speaker John Boehner was more effective with tears.
Our nation never should have gotten into the “fiscal cliff” mess. We got there in large measure because Boehner couldn’t control his temper and would not return President Obama’s phone calls after a White House meeting in July of 2011. Boehner said Obama “moved the goal post” after he thought a deal was done. Obama said that there were $1.65 trillion in spending cuts in the deal that Boehner walked from. The “fiscal cliff” deal that passed yesterday raised $650 billion in revenue and reduced spending by $15 billion. Our economy would have been better off if Boehner had been able to control his temper in July of 2011.
Politico reports that Boehner told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “to go fuck himself” on Friday as the two leaders of the House and Senate were entering the White House to negotiate. Congressman Frank LoBiondo(R-NJ-2) told PolitickerNJ that Boehner shouted at him yesterday when he asked the Speaker about the delay in the Sandy Relief Bill voting. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) went on FoxNews this morning to declare his independence from the Republican Party and urge donors to withhold donations to the GOP. Governor Chris Christie called Boehner’s lack of action on the Sandy Bill “petty politics,” “disgusting,” and “duplicitous.”
John Boehner has demonstrated that he does not have the temperament nor skill to be a leader of the House of Representatives or the highest ranking Republican elected official in the nation.
Trenton, NJ – With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable. It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bipartisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night.
The people of our states can no long afford to wait while politicians in Washington play games.
Governor Chris Christie has added a press conference at 2PM to his schedule today.
Changes are Christie will have some colorful things to say about the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives who, in a last minute reversal, declined to allow the House to vote on the $60 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package yesterday.
The press conference will can be viewed live here:
The bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Friday that would provide $60 billion to rebuild New Jersey, New York and Connecticut from the effects of Superstorm Sandy and $400 million in projects unrelated to Sandy has stalled in the House of Representatives, according to reports on Politico and NorthJersey.com.
The House has split the relief measure into two parts; a $27 billion first installment to fund immediate recovery needs over the next three months and a $33 billion amendment to that installment bill. The amendment would fund strip away the $400 million in non-Sandy pork.
House Speaker John Boehner pulled the measures from the voting schedule prior to the “fiscal cliff” vote last night. If the House does not act before noon on Thursday any federal help for Sandy recovery will have to be taken up by the new Congress.
Congressman Chris Smith and Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden prior to surveying Hurricane Sandy damage
The $60.4 billion dollar appropriation to fund the rebuilding of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut passed in the U.S. Senate last night by a vote of 62-32.
Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ 4), representing parts of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, is calling on his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass the aid package without delay before the 112th Congress adjourns on Monday.
“The House now has before it legislation that will provide critical federal support to help ease and mitigate the severe hardship on people, communities and businesses decimated by Superstorm Sandy,” said Smith, “There is no doubt that this storm created unprecedented emergencies and devastation and should be treated as such— with no delays, no budget offsets. Immediate federal assistance, resources, and mitigation planning is needed to help restore some normalcy and hope into the lives of the victims of Superstorm Sandy and start the rebuilding process.”
Good coffee, good food, reasonable prices and a clean comfortable friendly environment with free spontaneous comedic bantering returns to the Bayshore tomorrow when the Sand Witch Shop reopens in Highlands.
